Scorched Earth: Stray Threads
by J. Idanian
Summary: In another world, the journey ends the same way. But how the travelers get there is quite different. In this collection of shorts, we take a look at what might have happened to the characters of Scorched Earth had things been a little different from the beginning.
1. The Merchant of Death

**A/N: Those readers who have read the original Scorched Earth will probably appreciate this more than others. Looking back on the story, it's only natural to see things that should probably have been different. I don't have the time or the inclination to rewrite the whole thing, so whenever I feel like it, I'm writing up little peeks into an alternative version of the work, answering 'what if' questions. It's strictly for my own amusement and so unedited and with no regular updates. But if you want to take a look at what could have been, or just want to sample my work in the Avatarverse, go right ahead.**

* * *

Someone else in Siensao's position might have asked where it all went wrong. But she knew exactly where and when that was. _You wouldn't dare slay her, he says. I proved him wrong, didn't I? It was so easy…such a little life to end._ Shaking her head, she tried to focus on the books and scrolls in front of her. Concentration, though, was in as short supply as money for the syndicates these days. Her reserves of self-pity, on the other hand, were at an all-time high. _Father would be ashamed of me. Well, fuck him. All his discipline didn't save him from the Dai Li. All it did was let him die before they could crack him open like an oyster._

The door opened and Siensao looked up at once, ready to dive for the secret passage out. Then she relaxed as she saw who it was.

"Hello, Yukari," she said, a weary smile creasing her face. "How did it go?"

"Precisely as you instructed," the Selfless Warrior answered, "I killed the target and the new leader of the gang has already begun setting up trade routes between Dekari and Ba Sing Se. There was some death as he consolidated his position, of course."

"Of course," Siensao said, frowning at Yukari's still features. The other woman had aged very well, still radiating vitality even when standing still. Siensao, on the other hand…well, ten years of stress and bad fortune could do horrors to your complexion. She expected grey hairs any day now. _At least I'm old enough to have them. Some people die very young indeed._

"I may need you again once he tries to backstab us and take over our operations here," she continued, "But that won't be for at least another half a year or so. I have another assignment for you." Rifling through the scrolls, she produced one in particular and tossed it over to Yukari. The Selfless Warrior caught it in one hand and unrolled it.

"The new trade is a start, but we need more funding if we want to regain any ground here and more funding means muscle to get businesses paying us again. Thank the spirits we invested in the legitimate fronts when we did. The Si Wong caravan guards will be perfect, but they'll need to be handled with delicacy. Convince them to do a few jobs for us, and I'll bet a few of them will get a taste for it, and soon enough I'll have people thinking all the desert folk in the Lower Ring answer to us. That'll be a start. Do you need anything while you're here?"

She was already looking back down at her work when Yukari answered.

"Maybe," the other woman said, startling Siensao into looking back up. "I haven't decided yet."

"And what is it you can't decide about needing?"

Yukari moved, still so effortlessly fast, and her sword appeared in her hand, its point lightly touching Siensao's throat.

"Your death."

Siensao slumped down in the chair as much as she was able, letting out a deep sigh.

"Oh, thank the gods. It's finally time. That's a relief."

"You knew?" Yukari asked.

"I suspected," Siensao said with a shrug. "You'd have told Zuko about me when you met with him. It was an obvious thought for him to assign you to keep an eye on me and subtly bring down the syndicates and ensure anything I tried that he didn't like failed. But I wasn't sure. You're _very _subtle, Yukari."

"If you even suspected, why keep me at your side, send me on these assignments, allow me to reduce the syndicates to the remnants they are?"

"Her name was Hoshiko," Siensao murmured, feeling the familiar roiling in her gut, "And she was ten years old."

Yukari waited, her blade not wavering a fraction.

"I lost everything that day," the merchant went on, looking at something only she could see. "Can't have a Grand Secretariat that kills children, even enemy children. And I can hardly go for a walk outside without seeing my wanted poster. Hell of a list of war crimes on that one. Most of them are even true. So the only thing left was the syndicate, the one thing I wanted to get away from. My father's legacy and my grandfather before him, both of them miserable bastards. I could always look at them and see myself becoming like that if I kept on running this damned syndicate and fighting shadow wars against everyone else with a knife."

She shook her head slowly.

"If you're going to ask me why I deserve to live again, I can save you the time. I don't. It took me years to admit it, but I don't. I really don't. I let you get away with everything because the syndicates are full of people who would gladly murder a dozen like Hoshiko for a gold piece. And there are thousands of families out there who suffered under our rule, kids on the street that joined our gangs. I couldn't think about them without seeing her face. The less said about my dreams, the better. It didn't all happen at once, but…well, ten years is a long time to think. So if you want to, go ahead, kill me. I deserve it. My only question is why now?"

"You are attempting to build up the syndicate again," Yukari said. "This is unprecedented."

"Well, it's hard to try and keep Kuei's rule and kingdom safe without money," Siensao said. "If we go down, I'm out on the street, and I can't do anything to help anyone. But I understand what it looks like. Look, just go ahead, all right. I'm…really tired. Of everything."

"Would you do it again if you had the chance?"

Siensao chuckled, a bitter smile on her lips.

"That's what really gets me. Despite everything…yes, I would. I saved Omashu and the desert tribes. I probably saved the Earth Kingdom. And all it cost was the life of one little girl and my peace of mind. The Earth Kingdom needed a monster that day. Just bad luck it had to be me. Or good luck, depending on how you look at it. Someone else might not have done it."

Yukari nodded.

"Thank you. That's all I needed to know."

Siensao closed her eyes and waited to see if it was time for her to die.


	2. Desert Rose I

_If only_. That was Karida's thought during the long, drawn-out agony of the march south. If only she had gone east rather than west, she would have simply died in the sand sea of the Empty Quarter. If only the Fire Nation soldiers had killed her rather than taken her captive. If only she could find the strength to try and escape so they would kill her now. If only, if only, if only. That was her thought and little else, not the aching weave of scars upon her body, the brutal pace, nor the fate awaiting her at the journey's end. If only she was brave enough to kill herself. But the Blood Drinker was not to be disobeyed, even now.

She awoke from her thought when an iron cell door slammed shut and for the first time in months, someone spoke to her as people spoke to her before. Before the Blood Drinker, before the scars, before…everything.

"Hey, my name's Jomei," he said quietly, "What's yours?"

"It doesn't matter," she said, leaning back against the wall. Slowly, she slid down to sit on the floor, knees tucked up against her chest. "Nothing matters."

She heard the shrug in his voice.

"I have to have something to call you."

"Why?"

He knelt down in front of her and she looked up to see brown eyes boring into her own. He looked like a predator ready to pounce.

"Because I need to know if I can trust you or if you're going to kill me in my sleep. Anyone who cuts themselves up like that is dangerous."

Karida burst out in a fit of giggles, unable to stop herself, though she clapped a hand over her mouth to muffle the noise.

"What's so funny?" Jomei demanded, backing away, warier now. One hand reached out and picked up his hammer from where he'd set it down upon entering the cell.

"I didn't do this to myself," she said at length. He stared at her, eyes wide as coins and jaw hanging open. When he recovered enough to speak, he set the hammer down again.

"Was it the Fire Nation?" he asked.

She shook her head, starting to shiver. _I can't talk about it, please don't ask me who it was. I can't talk about her. I can't. Just leave me alone._

He opened his mouth, then closed it again and just looked at her for a while, thinking. After a long moment, he nodded slightly to himself.

"I'm going to trust you," he said.

"Why?" she blurted out, astonished in her turn. _There's nothing to trust. There's no one here. She took it all. What does he see? Is he a fool or a madman or both?_

"Because some bastard who's crueler than the worst Fire Nation ash-eater in this village went to a lot of trouble to hurt you. Anyone someone like that hates so much is a friend of mine."

"I could be as bad as…them," she said, "How do you know I'm not?"

He smiled, a bitter expression on his gaunt features, eyes gleaming in the starlight.

"Even if you are, the Fire Nation didn't do that to you, so you can help me fight them."

"I'm not going to fight," she said, lowering her head to rest her brow on her knees. "I don't know why I'm even talking to you."

"I do," he said, reaching down a hand. "You want to sit around until you die. I've seen that sort of thing before. But the Fire Nation will make you die working, if they do at all. They've gotten pretty good about keeping us alive."

Slowly, she reached up and grasped the proffered hand. He hauled her up onto her feet with no more strain than lifting that hammer of his.

"I still need something to call you," he said.

"My name is Karida," she replied. _It's okay for me to use that name. She said I could._

"Well then, Karida, get some rest. We can talk more tomorrow night. We've got plenty of time."


	3. Dark Lantern I

Siensao sipped her tea and considered the two ragged fugitives who had fallen into her lap. _All I have to do is convince the big simpleton that I'm fighting for the Earth Kingdom—not hard—and he'll follow me all the way around the Path to the Horizon. Easy. Karida al-Jita, though—as if I didn't know who she was the instant I saw those scars—she needs to go. If she ever recovers, she's astute enough to be suspicious and perceptive enough to make trouble. How to do it without arousing his suspicion, that's the question. I'll figure something out in Omashu._

"You told me last night that you wanted to fight the Fire Nation, Jomei," she said aloud, "And that you want lessons in earthbending."

"Yeah," he said, frowning at her, arms crossed. "What of it?"

"Well…" she said, lingering on the word as she glanced about the inn, "I might be able to help with that, if you're interested. Honestly, I don't know if it would really suit you, but you would be able to learn from some of the foremost teachers in the world without having to pay in coin for their instruction."

He let out a harsh bark of laughter.

"You're a merchant, all right. Fine, let's hear it. What's the catch?"

She smiled, bowing her head, hands raised.

"And you, Jomei, are accustomed to dealing with merchants, it seems. The catch is that once you begin this…course of study, shall we say, you can't back out, and you'd be accompanying me on a very long journey. I don't exaggerate when I say it might well take us all the way around the Earth Kingdom and back. If we're very lucky, it shouldn't take more than a year."

"A year!" Jomei burst out, slamming his palms down on the table loud enough to make Siensao wince and the other customers glance over. Realizing his mistake, he quieted down to a low growl.

"I'm not spending a year traipsing all over the Earth Kingdom! Every day I waste is another day Teoro suffers and the Fire Nation keeps winning. I need to start fighting back now."

"I absolutely agree," she said, "I only thought I'd suggest it because…well, that isn't really important. Anyway, only you can know what's best for you."

He blinked at her, his face scrunching up in consternation.

"If you knew it was a stupid idea, why _did_ you suggest it?"

"As I said, that isn't important, now look, if you're set on joining the army, I would be happy to write a letter to—"

He leaned forward on his elbows.

"_I_ think it's important."

No doubt the posture was meant to look terribly intimidating, but Siensao had some difficulty keeping a smile off her face. _Spirits, he's overdoing the glower something awful. And he's too far away to breathe on me and too close to look at ease with what he's doing._

She let out a sigh, avoiding his eyes and twiddling her thumbs a bit.

"All right. If you join the army, I'd put down half my profits against a clipped copper that you'll be dead within half a year and never see Teoro free, if it's ever freed. They won't care about one more mining village and Sky's Edge Pass isn't strategically important right now. The provinces south of the mountains are only contributing token resources to the war. They'll give you a nice helmet and maybe some armor if you're lucky and throw you into the front lines, where thousands might die in a day. I've travelled a long way, Jomei, and the world is a dark place where brave souls like yours burn out too fast. I had hoped maybe I could spare one person that fate."

Jomei leaned back, visibly wavering in his resolve. Now he was the one unable to raise his gaze.

"But…the Earth Kingdom needs every soldier," he protested, though without heart. "Even if I'm just another earthbender, it makes a difference. It matters."

"I wish I could believe that," Siensao murmured, shaking her head. "But one more or less inexperienced soldier doesn't win fights, battles, or wars. Those are won by people with years of experience. And even if you got lucky and survived, you don't have the years to spare. You've heard the stories, just as I have. The comet is coming next year. If we don't win this war before then…well, best not to think about that."

"How would me wandering around learning earthbending win any more battles than joining the army?" Jomei asked, still frowning.

Siensao exulted inwardly. _He's hooked. Now to reel him in._

"I'm not precisely who I appear to be, Jomei," she said, and this time she let the smile she was feeling blossom on her face. "I know people. Powerful people devoted to ensuring that the lessons of the past and the wisdom of the ages are not lost to time, ignorance, foolishness, and war. There's a journey I could go on with a fellow student, the Path to the Horizon. But that student has to be a bender. If I could complete the journey, I might be able to bring a new army into the war. My friends haven't been fighting so far. They're afraid. But if I can just get the chance to talk to our leaders, I'm sure I can convince them to fight, and we can drive the Fire Nation back into the western sea."

"Would you believe that story if I told it to you?" Jomei asked. "No offense, but it sounds crazy."

"Well, we're both heading to Omashu anyway," she said with a shrug. "I can prove it's the truth when we get there. Until then, you don't need to decide. I don't think we could take your friend along, though, not in her condition. She needs a healer, a good one, and it will take a long time for her to get better."

"No," Jomei said firmly, crossing his arms. "If I go with you, she comes too. End of story."

"Jomei, you can't give her what she needs. I'm not a healer, but—"

"If you're not a healer and haven't lain awake at night wanting to die then shut the hell up!" he snapped back, leaning forward again, fists rapping on the table, "Because you don't have any idea what she needs. I have some idea, so that means if she wants to come with us, that's what's going to happen. Get it?"

Siensao sighed. _Yes, she definitely needs to go._

"I understand. My apologies, I only want to help."

"Yeah, yeah. And use me to go on your little journey. I knew you didn't hide us from the ash-eaters just because you felt like being nice."

She raised an eyebrow. "It's just business, Jomei. You'd be using me, too."

He actually grinned back for the first time since they sat down.

"Now that's more like it. Just be up front with me about how we're using each other from now on and we'll get along fine."

She raised her cup of tea in a toast.

"I'm sure we will, Jomei. No secrets about what we want from each other from now on."


	4. Stone Soldier I

**A/N:** This chapter takes place prior to the previous one. I understand that may be confusing, but it's just how I happened to write them.

* * *

Jomei found Karida sitting on the edge of a cliff, looking down at the long fall off Sky's Edge Pass. It was the second day of their flight north from Teoro and night was falling swiftly. They had descended a long way from the high mountains, but the air was still bitterly cold and swirls of snow were already falling from the white void of the clouds overhead. Siensao and Zoukani were a good distance off down the trail, setting up camp in the earthbent cave meant to shelter travelers along the pass. The desert woman didn't move as he walked up next her and sat down, legs dangling out over the lethal drop. There was a dusting of snow on her head and shoulders and her breath was a white mist in the air.

"You shouldn't wander off," he said after a long silence. "It's dangerous up here for someone alone. Once this snow picks up, if you get lost, no one would find you until spring."

"I know," she said, still looking down, watching the snow fall away into the abyss, "I was hoping you wouldn't come after me. In the desert, it gets very cold at night. During the dry season, in some places, ice covers the ground in the morning. Outsiders have frozen to death there. Those we saved have always said that it was a very peaceful way to die, that it was…like drifting away into someplace warm and safe. I think I'd like that."

"I've heard the same stories," Jomei said, nodding, "But I can't let you do that. I need your help."

"Siensao can find you help," Karida said, shaking her head, "She can find you somebody better than me. You wouldn't even have taken me with you if I weren't a sandbender and a warrior. I slow you down."

Her words cut like the icy edge of the wind and Jomei winced. _That's true enough. Teoro comes first. The Earth Kingdom comes first. Everything else doesn't matter._ But for the first time in many months, he felt a twinge of guilt about that. _Two days is all it takes for me to go soft? Pathetic. I can't let this get in my way._

"I don't trust Siensao," he said, "We have a deal, that's all. That's what I asked for and that's what she gave me. Maybe later, when she's proven what she says, it'll be different. But you helped me when I was just the other prisoner in your cell. Bones of the earth, you killed a guy for me. So yeah, I trust you more than I would anyone Siensao found for me."

"You can't stop me," she said, shaking her head. "Just go away and let me die in peace. I think I've earned it."

Jomei ground his teeth, hands tightening into fists. _Dammit, what the hell am I supposed to do with a suicidal sandbender? I'm no good at this! All I can do is break things._

"All right," he growled, standing up, "You want to die, fine. Let me help." He reached down and picked her up with both hands as though she weighed nothing, swinging her out over the fog-shrouded abyss below. She screamed, the first time she'd done so since he'd met her, and clutched at his arms with manic strength.

"No!" she cried out, legs kicking madly at the air, "Please, don't!"

"What's wrong, I thought this was what you wanted?" he snapped. "Make up your mind!"

"No, I mean, yes, but, this isn't the right way! I don't want it this way! It'll hurt! What if I don't die from the fall and lay there for days with all my bones broken and wolves come and eat me alive? I can't take that chance! Please, just put me down! Please!"

"Did you ever actually try and kill yourself before?" he asked, ignoring her pleas. She shut her eyes, and he saw tears start up.

"No," she said miserably. "I…I was told not to…and everything I thought of would hurt too much."

"So that's what this is about," Jomei said, disgusted, "The world hurts too much. Well, that's never going to stop. I keep going forward because I'm going to make all that pain worth something. If I found a reason to live, so can you."

"_There's nothing left!_" Karida cried out, "You have no idea what she did to me! There aren't _words _for what I've been through! It was all so that I'd be like this, too afraid to even kill myself properly, otherwise I would have! I would! I want this more than anything I've ever wanted in my life and I can't do it! This is the only way. Just…just sitting here in the snow."

"Then you were wrong," Jomei said, swinging her back onto the trail and setting her on her feet, "I can stop you, and you know it. And I will, because like I said, I trust you, and I need your help. You don't get to die yet."

"I hate you," she whispered, wiping the half-frozen tears from her eyes.

"Join the club," he said with a shrug. _Probably never going to be the right time to ask ,but I heard what you said. Maybe someday I'll find out who _she_ is. And maybe I'll kill her for doing this to someone. That'll be an interesting day._


	5. Dark Lantern II

As Jomei strode out the door, his head down in thought, Siensao didn't bother turning to watch him go. _He'll think it over and agree. Everyone wants to be a hero, especially people with a village to liberate._ She took another sip of tea and waited for Dongzhou to speak up again.

"Do you wish to tell me what your game is?" the old earthbending master asked, his wizened features wrinkling in a frown, "Or shall I simply withhold permission for your embarking on the path?"

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean, Master," the merchant answered, keeping her eyes modestly lowered. "I've been quite clear about my goals and my reasons for them. As your friends in the Order have no doubt told you, my actions have done nothing but confirm what I've said. Why this continued suspicion when you believe as I do?"

"I believe that there are times when the Order must act overtly," Dongzhou said, steepling his fingers on the desk before him, "But it must be done only in a time such as this, when the fate of the world hangs by a thread. All your actions have done is tell me that you are still hungry for power. My opinion of you has not changed. You are still a criminal. That is all you will ever be."

"And yet the fact remains that you and all the wise men and women of the Closed Fist have been unable to persuade one Grand Lotus to change their mind and bring us into the fight," Siensao noted, setting down her cup and looking up to meet his eyes. "I am your last hope, unless there is someone else willing to walk the path all around the Earth Kingdom."

"If the choice is to put my faith in the currents of destiny and the wisest members of the White Lotus or trust in you, I think it is easy enough to choose the virtuous path," he scoffed.

Inside her sleeves, Siensao's hands tightened into fists. _This righteous idiot will be the ruin of the world, not the Fire Nation. I knew I should've picked a different senior master to work on, but no, I had to go for the challenge of someone with actual integrity. I suppose there's nothing for it._

She lowered her head and when she next spoke, it was with the hoarse, choked voice of someone trying to hold back tears.

"What do you want from me?" she whispered. "Do you want me to kill my father? Destroy the syndicates? If I got myself executed, would you give me a posthumous pardon for having picked the wrong family to be born into? What? _What do you want from me?_" This last was in an angry scream as she stood up and flung her cup into the wall where it shattered, splashing tea across the stone. Dongzhou sat, open-mouthed in shock as she whirled back to him, the first tears breaking through her resolve.

"You talk about taking the Order to war, but you have no idea what that means!" she snarled. "You'd be making thousands of people into murderers, spies, and spirits know what else! So don't talk to me like you're some paragon of virtue! You claim the Order doesn't use people like the syndicate, but it does! You do! You pick talented people, promise them great reward if they'll just do a few things for you and before they know it, suddenly they're part of this huge organization and there's no way out, not without giving up on whatever they were looking for when they signed up! You think it's a coincidence that so many initiates wind up in positions of power? You can't tell me it's all wisdom and knowledge, it takes connections! Favors! A bribe is a bribe whether it's gold or words on paper! The White Lotus is already running this world, you don't need me to help with that! And even with all that, you know what?"

She came to a stop, gasping for breath, and knelt back down before the desk, weeping openly. Dongzhou had closed his mouth, but still remained silent, his eyes very wide.

"Even with all that," Siensao went on quietly, "You're better than the syndicates. You're trying to do the right thing. That's why I wanted to be a part of the Order, because it proves that people can be better than…me. I've been trying to be better, but it's hard. I don't always succeed. That's why I need to do this, to prove to you and everyone else that I'm not just another criminal. But if that's really what you think, then don't worry. You won't have to deal with me anymore."

"Wait!" Dongzhou managed to get out as she started to rise once more. "That won't be necessary! Perhaps I have…misjudged you."

She remained still and silent and he gathered his thoughts for a time.

"You are a hard person to know, Siensao," he said at last, looking at her as though they had just met. "I flatter myself that I am a good judge of character, but I have always been unsure about you. Perhaps I always will be. But…you are right. You deserve a chance to prove yourself, and you really are the last hope of the Closed Fist. You have my support to walk the path."

* * *

The same evening found Siensao putting the finishing touches on a letter when a tap on her shoulder from Zoukani told her their guest had arrived.

"Dare I hope that the night-blooming flower has shed her thorns and is willing to permit this lowly insect a mere touch of her silken shadow?" came the familiar, irritatingly smug voice.

"I would say your taste in poetry has improved, but I'm sure you've just finally run out of bad poems to quote at me," she replied, sifting sand over the ink. Then she turned around to see the perpetually grinning face of Kei Dao, assassin and thief among other things. He only laughed and shrugged.

"Damn! I was hoping I could find some really puerile stuff this time. So, how'd the meeting go?"

She smiled back at him.

"Perfectly, of course. I didn't even have to fall back on threatening his loved ones. Now that that's settled, I have a very important letter for you. It needs to reach the recipient as soon as humanly possible. I have a problem only she can solve."

Turning back around, she carefully folded the letter into thirds and sealed it.

Kei Dao affected a hurt look.

"There's no problem this person can solve that I can't, is there?"

"Not if you don't mind being killed by her afterwards. I need Karida al-Jita dead or catatonic and she's sworn bloody vengeance on anyone who does that besides her. You know the woman I mean?"

Kei Dao went pale and stopped shifting about.

"Oh," he said, "her."

"Yes," Siensao said grimly, "her. That's why I need you to take her this letter, you're the only one who I can trust to do it and survive the experience."

"No offense, but are you really sure you want to bring her in? It's like…trying to kill a mosquito with a keg of blasting jelly. Even if it works, it's a hell of a mess."

"Anyone good enough to make her death look like an accident is probably knowledgeable enough to both recognize her and know she's off limits," the merchant sighed. "Believe me, I am far from happy about this myself, but it's the only way. Now get moving."

Kei Dao took the letter, bowed without his usual fanfare, and left, leaving Siensao to hope she hadn't just made a mistake. _I don't think Omashu is ready for Reki the Blood Drinker._


	6. Shining Sun I

**A/N:** Yes, that is indeed the infamous Chinese Water Torture. I debated whether or not to include this scene and instead just skip ahead to having Kyuzo meet the rest of the group, but I decided since I wrote it, I might as well include it, to give a little bit of a sense of how things are different here.

* * *

Kyuzo wept freely, hanging limp in his restraints. _Drip._ Every few seconds, a hammerblow came down on his forehead, amplifying his pounding headache. Water soaked into his eyes and he had to keep blinking it away, even as they became bloodshot and painful. _Drip._ Even with them open, all he saw was the darkness of his cell. His firebending had worked at first, but he hadn't been able to keep it up after the first hour. Ever since then, the time had crept by so that he had no idea how long it had been. _Drip._ The only other sound he heard was the kind and warm voice of his personal demon.

"I keep telling you this so you can remember it," the other man said. "I am so very sorry that you are doing this to yourself." _Drip. _"You can end this at any time. I want to stop doing this, but I can't until you let me. You know how to make this end." _Drip._ "Just give me a single ingredient. It doesn't have to be an important one, just something for me to give them so I can get you out of this terrible place for a little while." _Drip._ Kyuzo could have sworn he heard a sniffling sound as if the demon was holding back tears of sorrow on his account. "Don't worry. No matter what, I won't stop talking to you. I won't leave you alone in this hell you've made for yourself." _Drip._

The firebender could feel the last of his resolve crumbling. _What does honor mean down here? What does loyalty mean? What do those pedantic fools who speak about them know about the world? They would have cracked before me! They can't ask any more of me!_ Only thoughts of his family consumed in the fire of his own creations kept him going, but it was hard to remember them now, with his only comfort being the one who had put him here._ Drip. Drip. Drip._

"I…" he whispered hoarsely, his voice thick from disuse and – _hours? Days? –_ of weeping.. "I can't…remember…"

"That's very understandable," the demon assured him. "It's no wonder you're having some trouble, with all that you've gone through. Just try and relax and think of a name. Then it'll all be over. How do you start? Start at the beginning? I'm so happy that you've decided to stop this awful thing."

Kyuzo racked his mind, looking for where it began. He remembered his family's workshop, a table, glasses and jars of powders. There was a handwritten label on the first jar.

"Begin…with…" he began, only to hear another noise, and other voices.

"Hurry, Kyuzo, tell me!" the demon insisted. "What do you begin with?" But Kyuzo was enraptured by even the faint murmurs of other voices and the unfamiliar sounds. And then the door swung open and the light blinded him. He cried out with joy even as he clamped his eyes shut at the burning. _I remember the sun!_

Then the door swung shut again and he was truly alone. But he had begun to think again, to drag himself up out of the pit. _They…they had to cut off the interrogation. Why? What's going on? Have I held out long enough that they're going to try something else? Are they going to kill me?_ He prayed that he could die with the scraps of dignity he had left. When the door opened again, he heard another voice, a woman.

"Turn him loose. Honestly, this old technique? I suppose you showed him the wire jacket too, when you first brought him in? You'll be lucky if all he does is give you a recipe to blow yourselves up. Spirits know we had enough of that in Ba Sing Se at the beginning."

Kyuzo felt rough hands take hold of him and the jangle of keys. In moments, his wrists and ankles were free, though he felt the blood oozing from them. They seized him and set him down against a cold stone wall. He could open his eyes a little now. The cell was bright with glowcrystals and there was only one other person there with him. He reached a trembling hand up to his brow and carefully wiped off the excess water. There was not, as he had half-feared, a hollow there. He lolled back against the wall with relief. _If they threaten to put me back in, I'll be brave this time. I'll bite off my tongue and die with honor. There's no other way out of here._ His fantasies of escape were just that. But first, he had to know who had spared him. He cleared his throat.

"Who…who are you?" he rasped, raking one hand through the unbound, greasy black hair that framed his face.

"You can call me Siensao," the woman said, for it was a woman, he saw, sitting on a comfortable-looking chair that must have been used by the demon. "And I'm here to offer you a way out that doesn't lead to the Spirit World."

Kyuzo said nothing and she continued, leaning forward with a smile.

"You've proven you can keep a secret better than most, Kyuzo," she said, "They haven't told you this, I'm sure, but you've been down here for three days since they brought you into the city and you've given them nothing."

"There _is_ a recipe we're supposed to give up under interrogation," he admitted, "Just like you said. I don't know if that's what I was going to give them, though. I can't remember much."

"That's beside the point. I'm here to offer you a way out that doesn't lead to the Spirit World."

"What's that?" he asked, and her smile widened.

"Helping me," she replied. "The people who run this place are under the impression I'm a messenger from Ba Sing Se, here to help break you properly. But I'm here to break you _out_ properly." She held up a small glass vial and showed him the green liquid inside. "This will make you look and feel dead for long enough for your body to get tossed into the sewers where my friends will pick it up. We'll talk more once you've recovered."

"Won't they suspect you?" he asked. He didn't bother to ask what happened if he refused. They could have dosed him with any number of things in the last few days and he wouldn't have known. And even if that vial held death, he'd take it over the bitten tongue option.

"Not with the performance I'll be giving them," she said, winking at him. "Trust me."

"Then I look forward to talking with you," he said, a flicker of his old fire appearing. "I think I'd like to ask some questions myself for a change."


	7. Shining Sun II

Kyuzo felt almost human again. He was clean, dry, and dressed in something that wasn't a filthy Fire Nation uniform or Earth Kingdom prison tunic. He even had a chance to scrape the stubble off his face and trim his goatee. But he couldn't sleep without going back to a dark place and the sound of dripping water and he had to stop himself from flinching whenever he was asked a question. Now he sat at a long table with the other members of Siensao's little gang, for that's what it was. He hadn't spent five years as a watchman in Sangyan without knowing how to spot a gang. He was assuredly in bad company. The surprise was that only one of them wanted to kill him.

"Try again, Jomei," he said wearily, "From the beginning."

The earthbender growled low in his throat, but made an awkward sign of the flame with his big hands and began reciting the oath that every child in the Fire Nation knew, glaring daggers at Kyuzo all the while.

"My life, I give to my country. With my hands I fight for Fire Lord Ozai and his forefathers before him. With my mind I seek ways to better my country. With my feet—"

"Stop," Kyuzo said, and Jomei slammed a fist down on the table, making the firebender jump.

"Dammit, what is it now? I've got the words right, I've got your damn hand sign, I didn't forget anything! I even remembered the name of the Fire Lord! What is it now?"

"Y-You're looking at me like someone about to commit murder," Kyuzo said, cursing his stutter. _I'm a soldier of the Fire Nation! I'm better than this!_ "Showing deliberate insolence to the Fire Lord, even like that, is punishable by two strokes of a cudgel. And if they find your brand, they've got enough to arrest all of us."

"Oh, what, they're going to have me recite this shit in the street?" Jomei snapped.

"No, but people are going to notice that you're Earth Kingdom the minute you step off the boat," the firebender said, "And that means you look down, don't snarl at anyone, and speak respectfully to anyone with more Fire Nation ancestry or relatives than you, which in your case is everybody. If you can't even do that with me, on any subject we talk about, we'll never make it through the colonies without you causing an incident."

"Well then we might as well go to Siensao and tell her this isn't going to work!" Jomei shouted, throwing up his hands, "Because I don't bow to the Fire Nation! I don't grovel and eat dirt at their feet! Seven months in chains, you bastard! I'm not going back to that!"

Kyuzo weathered the storm with difficulty, finding himself leaning back and away from the other man. When Jomei had finished, the firebender deliberately leaned forward again, steepling his hands on the table. _Just imagine having this conversation in an interrogation room._

"You don't like me, do you, Jomei?" he asked. The miner snorted in amusement.

"You're Fire Nation. That's all I need to know."

"Be more specific."

Jomei snorted in amusement.

"How about you becoming Siensao's bitch about a minute after she hauled your ass out of prison? I thought Fire Nation soldiers were supposed to be honorable and brave and all that. Now you're working with people like us and teaching us how to sneak through your own territory. I'd never do something like that."

"But you would mine ore for your enemies."

Jomei shot to his feet, planting both hands on the table as he loomed forward over Kyuzo.

"You have my village penned like cow-pigs waiting for the slaughter up on that mountain!" he bit out, "What was I supposed to do? I was only waiting for my chance to escape, which I did! And I never agreed to anything like what you're doing!"

"But you would have, if they'd asked," Kyuzo said, keeping his calm only with immense effort, "And you know it. You'd have done anything they asked you to keep your village safe."

Jomei was shaking with rage, teeth bared, and he drew back a fist. Kyuzo's nerve broke and he dove off the chair, curling up into a ball. _Please don't hurt me again!_ He heard a tremendous boom, but there was no pain. Slowly, he opened his eyes and sat up, peering over the table. Jomei had punched the wall behind him, sending huge cracks running through it and knocking off chips of stone. The miner's head was bowed.

"All right," he muttered, turning back around, "So what's she threatening you with?"

Kyuzo clambered back into his chair, wiping sweat from his brow.

"It isn't about being threatened, it's about what I owe her. She saved my life and probably kept me from giving up vital information to the Earth Kingdom, so I'm repaying that debt as best I can. If she just wants to pass through the colonies, I can help her do that without hurting my nation in any way. And if she tries to abuse my skills or my help, I'll be there to stop her. Afterwards, we part ways and that's it."

Jomei was quiet for a long while, looking a little red in the face. Then he laughed, a genuine expression that brought a little smile to Kyuzo's face.

"You think you can stop Siensao from doing anything she wants to do?" he asked.

The firebender chuckled nervously.

"No, not really. But I can try."

The miner shrugged.

"As long as we're trying to do the impossible, let's try the oath again. If your people are stupid enough to be fooled by some groveling, that's their problem."

Kyuzo let out a sigh of relief. _Progress._


	8. Dark Lantern III - Stone Soldier II

Siensao could only meet Reki's mad, bright green eyes for so long without looking away.

"I got your message," the tribeswoman said, strolling forward a ways, across the floor of the empty granary. Her three-fingered hand rested casually on her sword hilt. "You had better not be wasting my time. If any of it is lies, you die." She ignored Zoukani's silent presence as though he didn't exist.

"It's all true," Siensao said, keeping her own hands tucked in her sleeves and well away from her own weapon. "I can arrange a meeting any time you like to confirm that."

Reki shook her head, her smile becoming a deep frown with startling speed. "That whining bitch. After everything I did for her, she hasn't done a single thing to repay me. She doesn't _get_ to do that! I warned her what would happen." She let out a hiss through clenched teeth. "Arrange a meeting. Today. Tell her I know where she's living and I'll start killing people if I don't see her here before sunset."

"Just so long as you don't kill any of my people," Siensao said, bowing low.

Reki snickered, all smiles again.

"You're a smart woman, Siensao, but you don't get me. This is my game now. You brought me in knowing who I am and you think you can tell me who I can and can't kill?"

"I've offered you a deal, Reki," the merchant replied calmly, "If you refuse, Karida and I will be leaving Omashu and you'll never find her again before your little desert empire falls apart."

Reki snorted and waved a hand in dismissal.

"I'd hoped you had more of a sense of adventure, but fine, whatever. So long as they don't get in my way, challenge me, or do anything else on the same level of stupidity, they live. Just keep your pets leashed."

* * *

Jomei barreled down the hallway at a dead run, heading for Karida's room. Throwing open the door, he found the sandbender curled up on the bed, shivering and whispering to herself. _Shit! Not this again! Why did Siensao think I can help her with this?_

"Karida?" he said, taking a few hesitant steps towards her, "It's me. Jomei. You remember me, right? What's wrong?"

She uncurled slightly and looked up at him with bloodshot eyes and tear tracks shining on both cheeks.

"I should have died up in the mountains," she said, her voice thick and cracked.

"I disagree," Jomei said, crossing the rest of the distance. Feeling awkward towering over her, he sat down next to her. It didn't help things. "What's wrong?" he asked again.

"They're here," Karida whispered, "They can't be, but they are. Just thinking about it makes me sick. I can't find a way out."

"You mean the woman that hurt you?" Jomei asked, his hands curling into fists. _Bones of the earth, if that bitch is here in the city, I'm going to kill her._ He was completely surprised when Karida uncurled, scrambling back into the furthest corner from him.

"No!" she shrieked, "You can't know about her! She'll kill you! She'll kill us all! But first, she'll…she'll…do things…" She buried her face in her hands, tucking her knees up to her chest. "I don't want that to happen to anyone."

"Why don't we just hide somewhere, then?" Jomei asked, "If she's really that dangerous that Siensao can't deal with her."

Karida made a noise like a cross between a hiccup and a sob that might have been laughter.

"Siensao has better things to do than get killed for my sake. And she…she sent me a message. If I don't go to her by sunset, she'll start killing people until I do."

"What does she want?" Jomei asked, grinding his teeth, "What in all the hells is she doing all the way out here looking for you? How did she even know you were here?"

"She…wants me to fight her," Karida mumbled, "Or at least grow stronger. I haven't even started. She'll be so angry with me! I don't…I don't know what she'll do to me, but I don't think she'll kill me. Maybe. It's hard to say. I just know I can't face her. But I don't want more people to die for me, either."

Jomei sighed, bowing his head. _Dammit. Karida is still the only person I can trust and I'm not letting this panther-wolf, whoever she is, get her claws into her. But I'm damned if I can think of a way out of this mess. Except one._ It made him feel sick just thinking about it, but the more he thought, the more it seemed the only thing to be done. He gave a convulsive shudder, then straightened up, letting out a deep breath.

"So we can't beat her in a fight, but we have to go there," he said quietly, nodding, "I'll tell you what. We'll both go there." She started to object but he held up a hand. "Wait! Just hear me out. We both go there, we listen to what she has to say and what she wants. And if she just wants to hurt you more…I swear on my grandfather's hammer that I'll kill you before I let her do it."

Karida almost melted back against the wall and looked up at him with wide eyes.

"You mean that?" she asked breathlessly, "You'll really do that for me?"

"Yeah," Jomei murmured, "Damn me, but I mean it."

"But…" Karida hesitated, going pale, then forged ahead, shaking noticeably. "But…she'll kill you for doing that. If you're lucky, she'll be mad enough to do it quickly."

"I'm hoping she'll understand I'm serious and back off," Jomei said, though he was far from confident in that actually happening, "But if not, well, Siensao might not value you, but for some reason, she values me. I'm also hoping that means she'll come along to make sure I stay alive."

"I…Jomei," Karida said, sitting up, "Thank you." He realized that was the first time she'd ever used his name. She placed her palms together in a slow, deliberate motion and bowed low. "I am thrice shamed by courage, honor, and strength. All I can promise is that if it comes to it, I'll…I'll try to kill myself and spare you from her wrath. I still don't think I can do it. But I'll try."

"You want to repay me for this?" Jomei asked.

"I also owe you for saving me from the mines in Teoro," she said solemnly, straightening up, "I don't know what else I can offer you, but anything I can give, I will try."

"My price is the same thing I've always wanted from you," Jomei told her, "Keep living. Don't even try to kill yourself. That means she wins. She doesn't get to win today."

"She always wins," Karida said, shaking her head, the faint light in her eyes fading.

"Well," Jomei said, standing up and offering a hand, "There's a first time for everything."


	9. Desert Rose II

**A/N:** This chapter contains graphic threats of torture. Those who would prefer not to read such content are advised to stop here.

* * *

Karida tried hard to stop herself from glancing over at Jomei, Siensao, or Zoukani every few seconds to make sure they were still there. Most of the time, she failed. She was terrified, so much so that her hands wouldn't stop trembling. But there was relief as well. _It'll be over. She won't listen and he'll kill me and it'll be over! I'll be safe!_ There was guilt, like a worm gnawing at her gut, but she pushed it away. All too soon, the large door of the granary was before her. As per her request, Siensao had given her the loan of Zoukani's sword and a small, sharp knife. The long _jian_ hung at her hip, a weight she hadn't felt in a long time. The knife was in her right hand. Jomei hauled open the door and walked in first, looking to either side. He needn't have worried. She could have told him their enemy was far too confident for that. Sure enough, as they walked farther in and Zoukani closed the door behind them, she saw Reki the Blood Drinker standing in the middle of the building. Ten more Si Wong tribesmen stood far behind her, too far to help out in a fight, and two of them had the half-bare feet of sandbenders.

Upon seeing her, Reki crossed her arms, scowling. Karida's breath caught in her throat and she almost dropped the knife. _Oh gods. It's her. She's really here._ Her breath grew fast and shallow and her trembling became a full-body shaking as she stared at Reki as if the other woman was a poisonous snake poised to bite.

"_You,_" Reki said, jabbing a finger at Karida, "Are in a lot of trouble. How long has it been? No, don't strain that pile of wet sand you're using for brains, I'll answer that. Enough time for you to grow your damn spine back and get angry enough to start thinking about training. But instead, I get word that you've got a fucking death wish! What the fuck is this? Are you _trying_ to piss me off and hope that I just kill you? I was very clear about the _consequences_ if you did something like this."

Karida felt her knees start to give out and the old urge to fling herself at Reki's feet came roaring back. _ No, no, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!_ Then Jomei interrupted.

"Hey, if this is question time, I've got one," he snapped, "Who in hell are you and what are you doing trying to pick a fight with Karida?"

Reki's gaze flicked over to the miner, who soon had to look away.

"Aw, that's just so _cute_," she said, chuckling, a smile breaking out on her face that made his neck hairs stand on end. "What rock have you been hiding under? My name's Reki. Most people call me the Blood Drinker, though rarely to my face. I rule half the Si Wong Desert and I'll get the other half in a year or two. Karida owes me the most challenging and bloody fight of my life. If you've taken advantage of her, stone-head, I'll get _nasty_ with you." Her smile widened, showing teeth. "You wouldn't enjoy that, but I would. I almost wish you did do that."

"Nobody deserves what you did. And I didn't do anything like that. If you just called her down here to yell at her, we're done with that," Jomei answered, feeling his palms growing sweaty on the haft of his hammer.

"I called her down here for a gentle reminder of what she owes me, of course" Reki said. "Leave her and get out of my sight. You'll get her back alive in a day or two. Karida, come over here. Now."

Karida had recovered enough to only take one step forward before she forced herself to a stop.

"N-no," she whispered. In the still quiet of the granary, the near-whisper was clearly audible. Reki stopped smiling.

"Karida," she growled, "_Come. Here. Now._"

"I won't go back," Karida said, her voice shaking, and raised her knife to her own throat. Her hand wouldn't stop trembling and she held the blade in a white-knuckled grip.

Reki let out an amused snort.

"Yes, you will," she said, "I see it now, you've just forgotten how this goes. You threaten to kill yourself, but you can't, and then you do what I say and it's worse because you tried this stunt beforehand. Go ahead. I'll let you work through it."

Jomei watched in a horrible fascination as Karida touched the knife edge to her throat, pressed hard enough to draw blood…and then wilted, the knife falling to clatter on the stone at her feet.

"I'm sorry," she whispered to Jomei.

The miner raised his hammer and Karida froze in place. _Do it, do it, do it!_

"Maybe she can't do it," the miner said, "But I can. I'll kill her myself before I let you do anything else to her."

Reki laughed, the uneven sound echoing in the wide spaces of the granary.

"You've seen what I did to her, stone-head. If you so much as scratch her, I'll make it worse just for you. I'll cut you apart sliver by sliver and make you eat the bits. I'll put you in a wire jacket and flay you alive a fraction at a time until your skin is all scar. I'll turn you over to the most disgusting fucks among my warriors to bend over a table. When the end comes, you'll beg for death and I'll help you pull out your own guts inch by inch until I think you're ready for the buzzard-wasps. You think what I did to her was undeserved? Wait until you see what I do to you! _I will fuck you up!_"

Looking deep into Reki's shining green eyes and bared teeth, Jomei's resolve withered and he swallowed hard. His hammer shook slightly and Karida looked over at him with a wordless plea on her face. Then he felt the prick of cold metal at the base of his own neck and saw Siensao's katana sitting under his chin.

"I take care of my own people, Reki," the merchant admonished her, her tone mild. "If Jomei does kill Karida, I'll execute him for the crime of mortal stupidity. Your creative approach towards punishment is not needed nor welcome. And I think you'll find pursuing vengeance against me will end very unprofitably for you."

"I don't care about profit and the lot of you are starting to annoy me," Reki snapped back. "I don't care to repeat myself, so this is the last time I will. _Give! Me! Karida!_" The tribesmen at the Blood Drinker's back began drawing weapons.

"No deal, desert rat!" Jomei snarled, heart pounding fit to burst as he raised his hammer a fraction, unsure if he would be able to let it fall.

"_Wait!_" Karida burst out, causing everyone to stop and stare. Silence fell for a long moment.

"Wait," the sandbender said once again. "If…if I fight you…and I do well…will you let us all go?"

Reki's eyebrows rose a fraction. Then she smiled again.

"Fight me and I'll let just you go. Fight well enough to convince me you're not completely hopeless and everyone except hammerhead there goes free. No one calls me desert rat and lives."

"I apologize," Jomei said, lowering his hammer and bowing deeply, forcing the words out as if they pained him, "I was angry and I thought things were about to go badly. I take back everything I said."

"Quite aside from that," Siensao added, putting her sword back in its sheath, "He's been trying to help Karida grow strong again, as you would have wanted. Killing him would undo a lot of work."

Reki made a show of examining her fingernails, then nodded.

"Well, you are good-looking enough. I suppose I'll accept your apology. That being said, if you ever mention this to anyone, I'll find you. Karida, darling, step forward." Still that mad smile twisted her face. "Let's see if anyone here is going to live."


End file.
